Today's Liberal News

How Mamdani Won: Field Director Tascha Van Auken on Grassroots Organizing Behind Historic Victory

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is less than two months away from taking office in New York City. Mamdani’s history-making campaign, grounded in community organizing, propelled the little-known Assembly-member to victory. Candidate Mamdani famously began the campaign polling at just 1% and overcame the intense scrutiny, Islamaphobic attacks, criticism for his support for Palestinian rights, and more.

“The Trillion Dollar War Machine”: William Hartung on How U.S. Military Spending Fuels Wars

Democracy Now! speaks to William Hartung about his new book “The Trillion Dollar War Machine” and who profits from the United States’ runaway military spending that fuels foreign wars. Hartung says that U.S. policy is “based on profit” and calls for a rethinking of our foreign entanglements. “We haven’t won a war in this century. We’ve caused immense harm. We’ve spent $8 trillion,” he says.

“Gunboat Diplomacy”: U.S. War in Latin America Feared as Hegseth Launches “Operation Southern Spear”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced the launch of Operation Southern Spear to target suspected drug traffickers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The U.S. now has 15,000 military personnel in the region. Over the past two months the U.S. has blown up at least 20 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. “80 people have been killed in what are extrajudicial executions under international law,” says Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director at Human Rights Watch.

The End to the Government Shutdown

Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here.
This week the government reopened after the longest closure in the nation’s history.

Five Stories That Aren’t What They Seem

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
The kayaker who went missing—and stayed missing for so long that rescue teams were at a loss. The seemingly perfect man who conned women—and was brought to justice by his own victims.

Why Can’t I Just Watch Sports on Television?

If you, like me, are a fan of the Knicks, you probably caught last night’s game against the Heat on Prime Video. But if you want to see them play Miami again on Monday, you’ll need the streaming service MSG+ (at least, if you’re living in New York and lack cable). That’ll get you a bunch of games this season, including their December matchup against the Spurs, but you’ll also need Peacock if you intend to watch them play the Pistons in January.

RFK Jr.’s Cheer Squad Is Getting Restless

Russell Brand had found his people, that much was clear. Last Saturday, in front of 800 fans in a hotel ballroom in Austin, the comedian doled out praise for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (whom he called “Great Brother Kennedy”), disdain for the medical establishment (“flat-out evil”), and gratitude for Jesus Christ (“Thank God we have a forgiving God that died for us”). He also told a bunch of dick jokes and, later, called me a Nazi.

We’re Thinking About Young Adulthood All Wrong

The notion that your 20s are the best years of your life is more rumor than reality. It shows up in songs, films, ads, social-media posts—but it says more about Americans’ idealization of youth than it does about what it actually feels like to be young today. The 2024 World Happiness Report found that when American adults were asked to rate the extent to which they were living their “best possible life,” those over 60 answered the most positively, followed by 45-to-59-year-olds.